


Keeper of the Stars

by LoversAntiquities



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Snowed In, Star Projectors, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-08
Updated: 2015-03-08
Packaged: 2018-03-16 20:26:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3501719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoversAntiquities/pseuds/LoversAntiquities
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During the beginnings of a snowstorm, Dean returns to his dorm in the freezing cold to find his roommate, one Castiel Milton, sprawled out on the floor with a star projector in the dark. Fluff ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keeper of the Stars

At some point in his life, he would regret signing up for classes fifteen minutes apart on opposite ends of campus. Running between buildings, jaywalking intersections and narrowly avoiding cars and other pedestrians barely got him in the door before the professor was calling roll and marking him as present. For the majority of the semester Dean panted his way across the grounds and made it just in time, inwardly cursing himself along the way that he hadn’t listened to his advisor’s suggestions about leaving ample time for travel. At least he was getting a workout from it all.

Halfway through the semester, it decided to snow. Not the light dustings Atlanta got during the late winter months that prompted school closings, but near blizzard-like conditions that sent the administration scrambling to call off classes midday, just as he was preparing to head to his second class. The announcement was made through the PA systems of each building and cellphones, inboxes filling with text after text explaining campus was closed after twelve and that all students were to head home before the worst of the storm hit. It was too late of a call – they should have cancelled earlier.

Instead, he was left walking from Aderhold Building all the way to the University Commons a good mile away, praying to whatever God was up there that he didn't break his neck walking on the slushy sidewalks or avoiding crazed drivers. Not that the other students were any better, everyone rushing towards the train station or to the parking decks, hoping they could make it to their cars in time. The walk to the Commons was twice as long as his regular route to Urban Life, leaving him huddling in his pitiful excuse for a coat along the way, hoping that he didn't catch frostbite from the sudden cold.

He _really_ needed to invest in a television, or even a weather radio. _Anything_ to give him some sort of alert that the entire city and metro would be shutting down at the exact same time. He would have been stranded otherwise, if he weren’t looking forward to getting back to the warmth of his dorm and to his roommate, probably with his face still buried in whatever textbook he was binge reading. Did he even know classes were cancelled? He wouldn't have checked his phone, either way; he never did.

Snow and slush stuck thick to the soles of his boots as he made his way up the stairs to his dorm, kicking them clean on the doormat and ignoring the look from another student down the hall. The hallways were warm, thankfully. If it weren’t for the oncoming stream of people wandering in his direction, he would have stayed out there for a while longer, just to get the chill out of his bones. His room was the only escape he had; shrugging off his backpack and taking it by the top handle, he unlocked the deadbolt and cracked the door open, finding all the lights shut off to the point of pitch darkness. Had Castiel gone out? he wondered before pushing the door the rest of the way open, sighing in the fresh warmth of the room.

Before he could reach up to flip on the light switch, he saw them, the thousands of individual dots lining every wall and the roof in intricate patterns, whites and blues illuminating his clothing and the twin beds on either wall, the desk between them, the closet, all of it originating from a plastic sphere on the floor, on the belly of one Castiel Milton, sprawled out between their mattresses with his hands on the base of his star projector, eerily glowing eyes watching the ceiling with the faintest of smiles on his lips. “Classes were cancelled,” Castiel told him, picking up the cell phone at his side and waving it in his direction. Of _course_ he would decide to use his phone today. “I told you snow was on its way.”

“Yeah, well, it’s Georgia,” Dean shrugged, closing the door behind him and letting his bag drop at his side. “Weather’ll change in five minutes if you let it.”

Castiel made a noise of agreement and tossed his phone onto his bed. “I finished my readings for the week, in the event that we’re cancelled for more than one day. Lie with me?”

“You and your weird… star thing.” He swore, Castiel would be the death of him one day with his Astronomy major and perfect GPA and impossibly good looks – and the fact he took to the weirdest hobbies with ease. Last week involved sneaking to the top of one of the taller parking decks after hours with a telescope to see some meteor shower. Who could see the stars in the middle of Atlanta, anyway? Especially after dark with every streetlight in existence all turned on at once. That was what probably spurred him to buy the projector – if he couldn’t see the actual stars, then artificial ones worked just as well.

“It’s calming.” Castiel motioned for him again, resting his hand on the base of the projector as soon as Dean sat at his side, lowering himself to the floor. There were so _many_ of them, he considered, folding his hands on his stomach; constellations he couldn’t name were spread out in different patterns on the ceiling, the sides of the beds, posters, the darkness of their shared dorm bathed in whites and blues from corner to corner. Castiel watched them, reverent, occasionally lifting a hand to obscure a portion of the star map, his hand a dark spot in the manufactured sky. “Do you think class will be cancelled tomorrow?”

“Probably,” Dean offered, heaving a sigh and closing his eyes. “Was comin’ down pretty hard by the time I got out, doesn’t look like it’s gonna stop any time soon.”

Castiel raised his hand again, tracing a line in the air and erasing stars with the swipe of his finger, the dots reappearing thereafter. “It’s a shame you won’t be able to take your exam in the morning.”

“Yeah, what a _riot_ ,” he laughed. “Whoever invented seven AM classes must’ve been a fuckin’ sadist.”

“That’s what advisors are for, Dean.” Castiel reached over to pat his wrist, eyes still locked on the roof. “You have to be proactive towards your studies, you can’t wait until the last minute and ignore those trying to help you.”

“Yeah, well, tell that to us bein’ _freshmen_ ,” he groaned. “We don’t really have much of a choice till we get these stupid Learning Community classes done, and they _know_ what they’re doin’, too. They think just ‘cause we gotta stay in the dorms for our first year, they can make us go to these early as _fuck_ classes. I swear, I didn’t even wake up this early in high school!”

Castiel broke away from the lights to turn his head. “I’m honestly surprised you made it to the bus on time. You forgot your pants once.”

Dean snickered – of _course_ he remembered that. “Bet you got an eyeful too, didn’t you?”

“I’m pretty sure everyone on the _bus_ did.” A smirk on his lips, Castiel looked back up at the ceiling, resuming mapping out constellations with his fingers. “Anna wouldn’t leave you alone for two weeks.”

“Yeah, neither would Cassie— _hey_ , no pinching!” He pushed Castiel’s hand away from his side, halfhearted in his attempt; Castiel slapped his wrist in retaliation. “That shit _hurts_ , man.”

“Your hands are alarmingly cold, though.” After knowing each other for majority of their lives – attending the same schools, being part of the same mutual social circle, even being paired in a dorm room together – Castiel still hadn’t mastered the concept of personal space. In middle school, Dean had put no initial thought into the touches Castiel gave him; pats on the back, the lingering slide of fingers down his arm, even too-long hugs. It dawned on him nearing their senior year though, what it might have meant.

Part of him hoped Castiel wasn’t as oblivious as he claimed to be, that he knew _exactly_ what he was doing, taking Dean’s hand in his and linking their fingers together in the space between their bodies, lightly grinding the knuckles of his fist in his grip. “Wasn’t expectin’ it to be a _freezer_ outside,” Dean huffed, fighting the flush in his cheeks. Not like Castiel would notice, anyway. “It was sunny yesterday, where did this even _come_ from?”

“I told you this _morning_ to wear the gloves your brother gave you at Christmas.”

“Yeah, yeah, _mom_. Don’t gotta _ride_ me all day—mother _fucker_ , you gotta stop _clamping_ like that.” Castiel only did it harder, squeezing his hand tight with intent, Dean kicking his bare ankle with the toe of his boot. “Sorry I can’t have the luxury of having Tuesdays and Thursdays off so I can stay in bed all day.”

“Technically, I’ve been on the _floor_ all day.” Castiel relieved some of the pressure on Dean’s hand, stroking his thumb over it in consolation. “Though, it appears we may be staying here together for a while.”

 _Do we have food_? was his first thought; leaning up on one elbow, he looked over to the desk shoved haphazardly in the corner, noting the faint outline of the unopened case of Kirkland water bottles and several boxes of Nekot crackers. Who knew if what was in the mini fridge was still edible. “You think the cafeteria’s gonna be open later?”

“I certainly hope so,” Castiel mused. “I would hate to have to resort to eating last week’s chicken salad.”

“Man, _that’s_ still in there?” Dean thumped back on the floor, one hand stretched towards his bed, the other still in Castiel’s grasp, their thumbs dancing together, pads teasing one another. “So what’s with the… projector today?”

“I was studying for my Intro to Astronomy exam next week. The textbook doesn’t let you immerse yourself in the real thing.” He paused; Dean heard him sigh, chest deflating with it. “I miss looking at them. When we lived in the suburbs, I used to sneak out on the roof at night and watch the sky, but here…”

“You can’t see anything.” Castiel nodded at his reply. “You know, if you wanted… we could leave town for a weekend, go up to Tennessee ‘n get a cabin or somethin’. You could probably see everything up there.”

In the blackness of their room, he could see the whites of Castiel’s eyes watching him, wide in shock. “You’d—You’d do that?” Dean hummed a ‘yes.’ “But you hate the mountains.”

Dean shrugged, turning his eyes to the stars. “Might be fun, gettin’ outta the fog for a while. Obviously not _this_ weekend,” he gestured to the window, blinds pulled tight enough to block out all traces of light. “Pretty sure we’re not goin’ anywhere till the roads clear.”

“It won’t be _so_ bad, staying here,” Castiel commented, hand fading into the blanket of lights, a few dancing on the back of his hand. “Maybe if it snows enough, we can go downstairs and build snowmen before everyone else wake up.”

Dean smiled to himself, gripping Castiel’s hand tighter. “So, tell me about this sky you got goin’ on here.”

Between them, he felt Castiel lift their joined hands, letting them hang a bit before he finally pointed at a specific constellation in the corner, a collection of indistinguishable dots marring the darkness. “You were born in late January, right?” Dean nodded. “That’s Aquarius, your sign.”

“How can you even tell? Looks like a buncha dots to me.”

He swore he heard Castiel groan beside him as he toed Dean’s ankle. “It’s easy if you study the patterns of the individual stars. There are over a dozen points.” With Dean’s pointed finger, he helped trace out the shape, the supposed arms and legs, the water jar, all making no sense to his eye. “Or, would you prefer to hear the myth behind it?”

“Feel like you shoulda started with that first.” If he could have seen Castiel, he would have bet good money he was rolling his eyes. “C’mon, lay it on me.”

“Aquarius is essentially the constellation of the water bearer,” Castiel began, bringing their arms back to the floor. “In the Greek myth, Ganymede was an exceptionally beautiful boy and the prince of Troy, and Zeus became absolutely infatuated with him and sent one of his eagles to snatch him and take him to Olympus to be the cup bearer to the Gods.”

Dean cocked an eyebrow. “How does that look anything like what you just said?”

“Use your imagination, Dean,” Castiel scoffed, playful. “Artists created illustrations to better portray the figures represented. I could show you later, if I ever decide to get up.”

“For someone so smart, you sure are _lazy_.” He nudged Castiel’s shoulder with his own, expecting him to push back with the same amount of pressure, maybe even more. Instead, he felt him fall into it, even daring to move closer, their hips brushing together, the projector jerking from Castiel’s shuffling, his free hand righting it again. “So if I took you to the roof and told you to find it, could you?”

“Given that it’ll probably still be snowing tonight, I doubt it.”

“ _C’mon_ , Cas, I’m serious!” Dean sat up on both elbows to look down at him, a few stars littered across his face, one up his nose; he couldn't help but laugh at that. “I’ll take you to the top of T Deck just so you can prove it.”

“You’re aware if we leave any time soon, we’ll suffer some sort of injury, right?”

He toed at Castiel’s foot again, receiving a kick in return. “ _C’mon_ , man. It’s… You know what I’m tryin’ to ask you here?”

What _was_ he trying to ask? Taking friends to the top of parking structures wasn't on his list of ‘things to do on the weekends,’ or any day in particular. But this was Castiel – Castiel, who had decided to attend university with him instead of some prestigious school up north, who stuck by his side during the worst of their public school career, who was his best – and probably his only – friend through it all. All without expecting anything in return, solely out of the goodness of his heart. Half of the time, it made Dean want to strangle him, learn just _why_ he did what he did. Why he had stuck by Dean so long and continued to stay at his side, always within an arm’s reach to keep him grounded.

Dawning flashed across Castiel’s face, the stars on his eyelids and forehead lifting in realization. “…Are you asking me out?” Castiel asked.

“…Kinda?” Rising up, Dean pulled his hand out of Castiel’s grasp, folding them in his lap. “I mean, you’re not exactly… _subtle_ , with the hand holding, ‘n all that. I just thought—.”

“Dean.” Castiel stopped him, sitting up and placing the projector on the floor, taking Dean’s hands in his own and bringing them to his lips, soft to the touch. “You… really want to date me?”

“I—yeah.” He bowed his head, fighting to hide the shame of his admission.

But never once did Castiel belittle him, simply opting to place a hand on his knee and squeeze there, gentle, calming. “I—But you’re straight. You’ve never—.”

Dean felt him shiver as he touched Castiel’s hand, linking their fingers together, caressing the skin of his thumb with his own. “You remember that month in Junior year where I kept bailing on you when you wanted to hang out?”

Castiel nodded, wary.

“I was… kinda dating Aaron for a while. Kept it under the radar for the most part, but…”

Castiel sighed, distant. “I thought… I thought you were upset with me. I didn’t know you were…”

“I didn’t really talk about it,” he continued. “Anyway, we kinda broke it off after dad found out, ‘n I didn’t wanna go down that road again. Felt like shit for how it ended, too. Just… I _freaked_ , man.” He turned just enough to spot the dotted expression on Castiel’s face, eyes wet in the faint light. “How long have you…?”

“…Fourth of July, before we started high school. You…” Castiel stopped to steady his breathing, clearing his throat. “We were lying on the trampoline in your parents’ backyard, and we watched the stars all night until you fell asleep, and you just… I knew I didn't want anyone else.”

Five years – Castiel had been in love with him for five years, and Dean hadn’t even _considered_ the possibility that he might have felt the same. How could he have been so blind? “I—Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I knew you didn't feel the same,” Castiel supplied, quiet. “Nothing would have come of it—.”

Dean kissed him then – a gentle thing, with his hand to the nape of Castiel’s neck, lips pressed together in the chastest manner possible before pulling back, far enough away to feel Castiel sigh, breathless. “You should’ve said something,” Dean said, palming Castiel’s cheek, fingers toying with the hair behind his ear. “I’m not—I know I’m not the smartest guy—.”

“Don’t.” Castiel shushed him with a finger to his mouth. “Don’t put yourself down like that, Dean. You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for, really.”

“Still stopped me from seein’ the truth,” he admitted. “ _Jesus_ , Cas, you were right there and I didn’t even _see_ it.”

Silently, he fell into Castiel’s hold, hands cupping Dean’s cheeks, thumbs stroking him soft, calming. “We’re here now, though,” Castiel told him, resting their foreheads together. “What happened back then doesn't matter—.”

“It does to me.” Even without his sight, he could sense the despair in Castiel’s eyes, the longing he held in his hands, in every touch he gave. Still, that didn’t stop the laugh that bubbled free. “We coulda spent a lot more time kissin’, for one.”

“We can do that any time.” Castiel drew him in close as proof, Dean clutching at his shirt just as tight until they were breathless with it, with each slide of kiss-bitten lips and roaming hands, each shared sigh in the dark. A finger on his eyelid had him opening his eyes, stars reflected in Castiel’s. “Orion is on your cheeks,” Castiel whispered, tracing a line from what he presumed to be a constellation.

“What, like, right now?”

Faintly, he saw Castiel shake his head. “Yes and no. Your freckles are… I admit I spend too much time counting them when we’re alone.”

Dean flushed bright at the mention, chuckling under his breath. “You can see them better if you turn the lights on, y’know.”

“They’re more interesting when I can’t see you,” Castiel hummed, tracing over a line. “The lights make new patterns. Can I show you…?”

With a breath, Dean nodded. “So, tell me about Orion.”

**Author's Note:**

> This shouldn't've taken me four days, but it did. I saw a fanart on tumblr and then I remembered that I _really_ like star projectors. Thus, this was born! Also, this takes place during Snowpocalypse 2014, wherein I did the exact same thing as Dean did in this fic, but I was one of the ones running to the train station before that fire broke out and evacuated everything. Atlanta was a _mess_ that day, and they really should have cancelled class that morning instead of at noon. I still have nightmares. Also, the first fic where I write about my university, yay~. (T Deck is like...seven stories tall or some insane height, I walk by it every day.)
> 
> Also, big thanks to museaway for beta-ing this for me! She's also inspired a sequel that may or may not be written as soon as I get time. For now, I'm gonna be working on short stories for the presumable next week or two, so here's to hoping I can knock those out of the way. Next up, White Lightning (hopefully)!
> 
> Title is from the Tracy Byrd song.
> 
> I'm on [tumblr](http://tragidean.tumblr.com) and [twitter](http://twitter.com/loversantiquity).


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